1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of photography and, more particularly, to a combination slide viewer and photographic copier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A large number of amateur photographers use transparency type film or "slides" as the primary image recording medium for their photographic collection. While slides offer the advantage of compact storage and the convenience of group viewing when projected onto a viewing surface, there are disadvantages to this system.
Viewing of the slides is restricted to locations where a projector or other type of slide viewer is available. Generally such equipment is not permanently set up in the home and there is considerable preparation involved before one is ready to show the slides. Also, the slide format is not suitable for display on a wall or desk and copies of the "photograph" cannot be given to relatives and friends who do not have appropriate slide viewing equipment.
There are, therefore, many occasions when the photographer will want to have enlarged reflection print copies of the slides. In most instances, he will not have the necessary equipment or expertise to make such copies himself and the slide will have to be sent off to a commercial photofinisher. This is basically an inconvenient procedure because of the delay involved and it also carries the inherent risk that the slide may be lost or damaged.
There are disclosures in the prior art of apparatus intended for amateur use for making a reflection print copy of a slide utilizing a self-developing film unit. For representative examples of such apparatus see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,866,380; 3,065,667; 3,653,760; 3,697,175; and 3,754,825. In general, these apparatus includes specially configured self-developing cameras or slide copier accessories that are adapted to be attached to standard self-developing cameras.
While the above apparatus allow the amateur photographer to make reflection print copies of his slides at home, the procedure is not as convenient as it could be. The slide to be copied must be: identified; removed from the projector storage cassette; transferred to the copy camera for copying and then returned to the storage cassette. If the slide is identified during the course of a slide showing, either the showing must be interrupted for a considerable time for the copying procedure or the slide must be set aside for copying later.
Preferably, one would like to identify a slide on screen and have the ability to make one or more enlarged reflection print copies right on the spot in a very short time period without having to use separate copying equipment, and then be able to continue on with the balance of the slide showing. As will be described in detail later, the present invention provides an apparatus in the form of a combination slide viewer and photographic copier which is capable of operating in this preferable manner.
There are photographic apparatus known in the prior art which are able to perform the functions of projecting an image of a transparency onto a viewing screen and making a photographic copy of the transparency, namely, the microfilm or microfiche reader-printers. For representative examples of such apparatus see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,769,369; 3,240,115; 3,697,176; 3,713,737; 3,722,999; 3,765,759; 3,877,805; and 3,898,004.
These reader-printers however are quite large and mechanically complex machines which are inherently very expensive and are not suitable, nor are they intended, for the amateur photographic market. Also, in general, the reader-printers use special electrostatic or thermal copying paper which is not suitable for making quality color copies of color transparency slides.